


Bloom

by Kaillingme (Setty94)



Category: EXO (Band), SuperM (Korea Band)
Genre: Blow Jobs, M/M, Magical Realism, Merpeople, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Smut, Wings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:37:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24530161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Setty94/pseuds/Kaillingme
Summary: Baekhyun wakes up with wings suddenly one morning and he only has one person to blame: Kim Jongin, the mysterious boy who swept him off his feet the night before.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Kim Jongin | Kai
Comments: 16
Kudos: 33
Collections: Ethereal Boys Bonus Round





	Bloom

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you sooooooooooooo much to the mods who let me submit super late and also let me post part 1 with part 2 coming after reveals. You guys are saints amongst angels!

Some nights, Baekhyun would sit by the window and watch the rain. Nights just like tonight. Nights where he wished he was anywhere else but here. Nights where he longed for the sky. Where he yearned for the freedom that the clouds offered him. Nights where he could meet the stars and shine as blindingly bright as a supernova. Nights like these plagued him a lot recently; filling him with an aching pain that never quite went away.

One raindrop consumed another, growing fat and heavy until it glided down the pane, taking others with it. It wasn’t raining hard, but it was raining enough that going outside was out of the question. So he sat on the cushion of the bay window, staring out at the street below, and watching the rivulets of rain turn into streams on the glass.

A sigh escaped him then, fogging the window. Baekhyun drew a small frowny face in the condensation and turned to rest the back of his head against the wall and shut his eyes. He longed for the warm days of summer to return. It was just the beginning of August, so it shouldn’t have been so chilly. Cold weather had always left him feeling a bit blue, but that was probably because he spent so much time trapped inside four walls trying to stay warm.

On the backs of his eyelids, Baekhyun imagined the sky. Clouds dotted the blue expanse here and there. Some were dark gray and pregnant with rain while others were thin wisps that reminded him of feathers or a cotton ball that had been pulled apart. Still, in his mind, the sky sang to him. It sang a hollow and forlorn sound that plucked his heartstrings like a guitar. He wished he could be there in the sky. He wished he could be free.

👼

“Dude, there’s a party tonight. You should come,” Chanyeol’s voice sounded through his door the very next morning.

Baekhyun rolled over and squinted. He didn't remember falling asleep but he did remember his dream. He was plummeting towards the ground. Instead of screaming and feeling that knot of fear in his stomach, he had been calm, serene almost as the earth rushed up to meet him. When he thought he was going to meet his death, massive wings sprouted from his back and he was gliding through the air. It'd been one of his reoccurring dreams. One of the ones he actually enjoyed.

He blinked, lazily upturning his lips as he thought of the feeling of the wind in his hair. The things he would do just to feel that feeling in his waking life. Suddenly the door flew open, interrupting Baekhyun's thoughts and he didn't have time before Chanyeol was looming over him, decked in his black winter coat, a mauve scarf, and thick-rimmed glasses sliding down his nose.

The giant placed his hands on either side of Baekhyun's head and shook the bed. “Par-tay. To-night. You are coming.”

Before Baekhyun could protest, Chanyeol was pulling him into a sitting position and off the bed. "Stop moping around. It's our last year here, we gotta go out in style."

Baekhyun heaved a sigh and groaned. He didn't want to go to a party. He wanted to stay in his room and think about all the ways he could possibly fly. He had gotten past the hang-glider phase after seeing a few nasty accidents, and now he was interested in the theory of base jumping. When Chanyeol pouted at him, Baekhyun raked his hand through his hair.

“Okay fine, but I promise I’m not gonna have any fun.”

Chanyeol grinned wildly and placed his hands on his hips, superhero style. “That’s good enough for me. At least you’re not being Mr. Doom and Gloom. I swear this tortured artist persona you got going on isn’t going to get you any ladies.”

“I’m gay,” Baekhyun replied and Chanyeol scoffed at him.

“And I'm late for class. Just get your ass dressed and let's go,” Chanyeol said as he closed the door.

This was one of those times Baekhyun wondered why he chose to live with the guy for the third year in a row. He quickly pulled on clothes and heaved another sigh as he grabbed his coat off the back of his desk chair. A few hours of class and then the party. He could do this.

👼

Leaves twirled and swirled in the gentle autumn breeze. Baekhyun watched them while Chanyeol chatted excitedly beside him about his first day of class. Baekhyun half-listened and pushed his glasses up his nose. The wind had proved to be too strong for him to wear his contacts comfortably. Another gust whipped his hair around and Baekhyun dug his hands into his pockets. So much for a long summer.

“First frat party of the year! It’s gotta be great, man. We just gotta go out with a bang!” Chanyeol said. His nose and ears were tinged a rusty pink from the temperature. It was cute in the same way that it was on a child. It brought youth to Chanyeol's face.

Baekhyun nodded beside him and watched as another leaf was swept up in the breeze towards the sky. He followed the leaf intensely with his gaze, feeling that longing build inside him. He really needed to snap out of it before -- Chanyeol stepped on the leaf with a pleased little huff.

“Crunchy, my favorite,” his best friend exclaimed.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. He was going to miss the guy when they graduated. He needed someone like that to keep the darkness from settling too thickly in his heart. That and Chanyeol was right. It _was_ their last year. Taking a hand out of his pocket, Baekhyun looped his arm through Chanyeol’s and whooped as loud as he could. A rush of adrenaline ran through him as he shouted into the cold air, breath creating a small cloud.

“That’s the spirit! Yeah!” Chanyeol shouted, grinning pink-tinged ear to pink-tinged ear. Baekhyun returned the smile and felt his spirits lift. Maybe tonight wouldn’t be so bad after all.

They arrived at the party shortly after and Baekhyun hovered by the keg, filling his cup once and sipping the froth. He didn’t want to get drunk, it always made him feel out of control and sloppy like he might combust or something, so he usually nursed a single cup the whole night. Plus he wanted to avoid a repeat of freshman year where he had stripped naked and skinny-dipped in front a crowd of strangers.

Looking around the room, Baekhyun noticed that Chanyeol had completely disappeared. He wasn't surprised, not in the slightest. His best friend had always been the life of the party and quite extroverted. So he was most likely surrounded by people being a goofball or playing the guitar. Baekhyun was that way sometimes too, but the past few weeks he’d been feeling off.

Baekhyun was about to mosey away from the keg when a sudden hand caught his shoulder and spun him. Soft lips crashed down on his and fireworks went off in his mind as he dropped the cup, completely consumed by the man kissing him. A quiet moan surprised Baekhyun when it vibrated in his throat. Subconsciously, he moved to deepen the kiss, but then the lips were gone.

“Shit, she’s still looking,” the guy hissed and cupped Baekhyun’s face with both hands. “Dude, sorry, but I gotta do that again.”

Before Baekhyun could even reply, he was being kissed again. He felt a tingle somewhere at the backs of his shoulders when warm hands pressed against him and shuddered. In any other situation, Baekhyun would have freaked out. But, the guy was cute as hell, so he didn’t mind. He was also a great kisser, so he doubly didn’t mind. Baekhyun snaked his hands around the guy’s back, reaching for his shoulders and suddenly the lips were gone again. Instead, he was staring at the face of a sun-kissed god in front of him.

“Alright, that did it,” he sighed and smiled a dazzling smile. “Thanks. I’m Jongin.”

“Baekhyun,” he replied when he got control of his voice back. He wet his tingling lips and glanced down at the spilled mess of piss-cheap beer at their feet before looking back up at the dazzling man in front of him. “Do you always kiss strangers like that?”

“Only when they’re as cute as you,” Jongin laughed, bringing images of puppies to Baekhyun’s mind. He was _really_ cute.

“So there wasn’t anyone you were hiding from? Or trying to convince that you’re gay?” Baekhyun said cheekily. It'd been a while since he got to flirt like this.

“Oh, that? Nah, that was all a ploy to get you to kiss me. And I’m bi, _by _the way. I like the peen and the vagene,” Jongin said and then cringed. “Sorry, that was weird as fuck.”

Baekhyun laughed. Not only was Jongin cute, but he was funny too. Maybe coming to this party wasn’t a bust. “I like weird,” Baekhyun smirked.

“Oh, then you’re in luck! I’m about as weird as it gets,” Jongin said, shyly rubbing the back of his neck.

“Guess I should buy a lotto ticket if I’m so lucky,” Baekhyun quipped. He liked this guy already.

Jongin leaned against the wall and crossed his arms loosely. “Oh definitely. And maybe we can go to Vegas and get some of that _ka-ching_.”

Baekhyun playfully rolled his eyes. This guy had him, hook, line, and sinker. “How’d you know I wanted a drunken shotgun wedding?”

Jongin shrugged. “Because we’re obviously meant to be." He grinned in a way that was making Baekhyun breathless. "We’ll get married, live in a three-bedroom house, have like fifteen dogs, grow old and fat together, and then I’ll die first because I eat too much fried chicken. Cholesterol is the silent killer….oh that got dark. Sorry.”

Baekhyun snorted. Jongin’s humor was right up his alley. “I’ll take your cholesterol-related death and up you a freak accident of me pulling a Daedalus.”

The joke seemed to go over Jongin’s head because he gave Baekhyun a confused look.

“Oh you know, the guy who flew too close to the sun?”

“...oh! Yeah, I know him,” Jongin chuckled, a blush creeping on his cheeks. Baekhyun fought the urge to kiss them.

The moment stretched in awkwardness until Baekhyun clapped his hands together. “Right, so should we skip the formalities and jump straight to the part where we awkwardly fumble around in the dark for a bit, bump faces, I get a bloody nose and you end up freaking out, telling me to tip my head back so I don’t get blood everywhere or what?”

Jongin guffawed. “Sounds enticing. But, how about this: we go back to your place, I don’t accidentally headbutt you in the nose and we stay up all night making a pillow fort and trying to avoid our impending adult lives.”

“I’m gonna need more pillows,” Baekhyun said, quirking his brow.

“I can fix that but,” Jongin replied. He pulled out his phone and handed it to Baekhyun. “I’m gonna need your credit card details so I can buy that life-sized My Little Pony doll I’ve had my eye on.”

Of all the ways a guy ever asked for Baekhyun’s number this was by far the most inventive. He shook his head, speechless, but input his digits and handed it back. In the back of his mind, he made a note to remind himself to thank Chanyeol for dragging him out of bed.

Jongin tapped his screen a few times and Baekhyun felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. When he fished it out he saw a message from an unsaved number that read: If you like it, then ya better put a ring on it~ and a ring emoji.

Baekhyun smiled down at his phone and then up at Jongin. “I can’t think of anything sarcastic to say, but how about we make good on that fort?”

“Text me your address and I’ll be right there,” Jongin said with a wink and then leaned down to kiss Baekhyun again.

Their lips met briefly and Baekhyun felt the tingle in his shoulders again. But before he could begin to question it, that boyish face was grinning at him and all semblance of thought flew out of Baekhyun’s head. Oh boy, he was in trouble.

👼

“Okay important question number one,” Jongin said as Baekhyun opened the door.

The golden boy was holding a stack of sheets in his arms, a regular pillow pinched between his chin and chest, and his car keys dangling off the tip of his finger. His hair was disheveled in a boyish way that made Baekhyun's heart squeeze.

“Go on,” Baekhyun said, taking in this image with amusement. How could someone be so hot but also so damn cute at the same time? He stepped aside and gestured for Jongin to enter.

Jongin tossed the sheets on the chair and then set the pillow on top. When he spun around to face Baekhyun, there was a ploying smile on his face. “What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?”

“Anything fruit-flavored, why?” He gave Jongin a suspicious look and gently scooped the pillows and sheets up, intending to walk them up to his room.

Jongin’s smile went devilish. “Because pillow forts aren’t complete without ice cream, duh. Man, I can really pick them then! I grabbed banana and cotton candy.”

“Damn, if I wasn’t so sure I just met you, I’d say you knew me my whole life,” Baekhyun chuckled and started the way up to his room. Jongin followed behind him in silence for a bit.

Then, almost cryptically, he added, “Maybe I did.” He gave Baekhyun a stony face before it bloomed into a boyish smile and wiggling eyebrows. “We could be like tragedy-stricken lovers destined to never make it. Always meeting but never quite making it work. Looks like we may have to get a divorce after our wedding.”

Baekhyun shook his head. Jongin was quite the character. "Only if I get to keep the house." It was fun playing along with Jongin like this.

Jongin flopped onto Baekhyun's bed and grinned. "Okay you get the house and I get the dogs."

Baekhyun tossed a pillow on Jongin's face, feigning a gasp. "How dare you say that. Sir Fluffington will be staying with me in our mansion. The nerve!" Baekhyun said, clutching the neck of his shirt.

Jongin rolled over and propped his head between his hands. "With a name like that, he definitely needs to stay with me. Poor thing probably gets beat up at doggy daycare."

Baekhyun rolled his eyes and laughed. Jongin's humor was really something. "I think we're that couple that breaks up but gets back together all the time." He fumbled over the word couple, knowing that the two of them had really only just met, but it just felt so natural with Jongin.

Said golden boy rolled off the bed to his and approached Baekhyun with a sparkle in his eye. "So we're a couple then?"

Baekhyun felt his face heat up. He sputtered a bit, completely losing his cool while Jongin gave him an innocent smile. Oh yeah, he was in for it. "I-I mean-"

"I'm just pressing your buttons," Jongin laughed. "We should go get the rest of the pillows, I kinda left my car unlocked."

The feeling returned to Baekhyun's face and he led the way down the stairs once more. The two of them walked quietly until they arrived at the car. The entire cabin was filled with pillows and sheets. He shook his head, apparently surprises like this were Jongin's specialty.

“So...uh,” Baekhyun huffed as he rearranged the pillows in his arms. They were teetering dangerously. “How’d you get all these pillows?”

“Stole them over the years from hotels,” Jongin said matter-of-factly. “Some people call me a, dare I say, bad boy.”

“Damn, you’re cute, quirky, and a rebel?” Baekhyun lifted an eyebrow. Jongin was exactly what he needed. “If we hadn’t already planned our shot-gun wedding I’d be proposing right now.”

As they reached the door, Jongin held out his hand daintily. “It’d be my pleasure,” he said with a faux swoon. “You’re just my type too. Kinda emo-looking, witty, and you like my smile.” Jongin grinned to emphasize the fact.

Baekhyun choked on his spit as he tried to deny his obvious affixation on how cute Jongin was so effortlessly. He nearly dropped the pillows and was only saved by the chair in his common room. “I-I.” He stared at Jongin a little bit mystified and a lot more in awe. This guy was definitely pushing all the right buttons.

“You got me there,” Baekhyun said at last.

Jongin dumped his pillows onto the floor and preened, placing his hands on his hips. “Aren’t you glad I kissed you?”

As if Baekhyun needed the reminder of how amazing Jongin’s lips were. He found himself staring at them for a moment too long before replying. “We’ll find out after we get this fort up.”

About an hour or so getting everything just right in Baekhyun's room, he found himself in a not-so-unfamiliar position. He was hovering over Jongin, propped up on his hands, and staring into nearly golden eyes. The dim lighting from the fairy lights (that they snuck out of Chanyeol’s room for the purposes of the fort) were making Jongin’s honey-colored skin glisten. Baekhyun held his breath and froze. He could not deny his undeniable attraction to Jongin. No, that would just be plain stupid.

Still, he needed permission.

“Is this okay?” He asked, wanting to make sure he read all the signals right.

Ever since they crawled under the sheets and pillows, Jongin had been lingering. Fingers that rested a bit too long on Baekhyun’s thigh when they were laughing about outrageous things they’d done in high school. (Jongin had swam from pier to pier, nabbing bottles of alcohol for him and his friends in the eleventh grade. While Baekhyun had gone to a foam party and gotten so fucked up all he remembered was the fact that his friend Jongdae got into an argument with some other guy after kissing his girlfriend.) Eyes were glued to Baekhyun’s lips whenever he ate a scoop of ice cream – the banana was amazing, but Jongin’s gaze was even better. Shoulders brushing against each other had turned into Jongin lying his head on Baekhyun’s shoulder to whisper in his ear.

Which had in turn morphed into a brushing of noses and a meeting of lips. God, Jongin was such a good kisser. His lips were so soft too. Soft and thick, just how Baekhyun liked them.

Hot breath grazing his face had been what spurred Baekhyun to pin Jongin to the ground, but now? Now, he was still frozen while he awaited Jongin’s response.

Jongin reached up and ran his fingers through Baekhyun’s hair and finally resting on his nape. He pulled at Baekhyun, bringing their mouths a hairsbreadth apart and brushed his against Baekhyun’s. “It’s perfect. I couldn't ask for more.”

That was all Baekhyun needed to completely break down that last barrier and just let himself kiss Jongin again and again and again. It was a million times better than the kiss at the party. Soft, plush lips melded against Baekhyun’s and they both simultaneously gasped.

"Woah," Jongin said, lashes tickling Baekhyun's face. "That was wow."

"Yeah," Baekhyun breathed, gaze falling back to Jongin's lips. They looked so inviting. He closed the distance between their faces and let himself loose. Kissing Jongin was completely out of this world. Kissing Jongin brought his mind to a stop, focusing instead on the moment instead of what would happen next.

His heart raced, thumping loudly in his chest as he roamed Jongin's body with his hands. Jongin was as soft as he looked. His skin was like satin and every time Baekhyun fluttered his fingers over Jongin, he could feel the trail of goosebumps he was leaving behind. The fact that he affected Jongin this way, spurred him on.

He wanted _more_.

Soon, they had shed their clothes and Baekhyun got a really good look at Jongin. He had a small, slender waist, a soft tummy that looked like it was begging for Baekhyun to suck dark marks onto it, and nice broad shoulders, giving him that incredibly sexy v-shaped body. Jongin was nothing short of amazing. A sculpture carved by the gods themselves. He'd be surprised if the gods hadn't fallen for him right then and there.

Dark nipples grew hard when Baekhyun circled them with his thumbs while they kissed more. Everything was growing so heated and hot. He trailed down, enjoying the little huff of Jongin's breath leaving his lungs, as he attached his lips to the pert little nub. Even Jongin's skin tasted amazing. Everything about him was making Baekhyun go a little bit wild.

He kissed along Jongin’s jaw, lingering at the juncture of his neck and shoulder and then continued down making his way to one of the erect nipples. Baekhyun paused, breath coming out harshly over Jongin’s skin and looked up at him. He was half in the throes of pleasure, eyes heavy-lidded, mouth swollen and damp, face flushed and chest rising faster and faster the longer Baekhyun made him wait.

"Please," Jongin whispered.

It did wonders to Baekhyun's dick.

Slowly, Baekhyun opened his mouth and snaked his tongue around Jongin’s areola, enjoying the sharp hiss Jongin let out. He closed his lips around it, playing with it with the tip of his tongue, swirling and then flattening out. Jongin squirmed beneath him, panting and trailing his hands up to Baekhyun’s hair and stroking. Baekhyun sucked slightly, eliciting a tiny, surprised whimper from Jongin and then did it again. Jongin made such pretty sounds.

Growing heavy between his legs, Baekhyun started playing with himself while he toyed with Jongin’s nipples. He had switched to the other one, sucking and lapping at it while he teased the other with his fingers. He hadn’t thought his night would take this type of turn, but the more Jongin arched up into his mouth, the more Baekhyun wanted to continue.

It wasn’t long before Baekhyun found himself lying on his side, his dick in Jongin’s mouth and his own filled with a perfect cock as well. Jongin wasn’t huge, but he wasn’t small either. He was perfectly average with a nice tan coloring to the shaft that grew red towards the tip. It was almost sinful how nice Jongin’s cock looked. Like he could model it in a magazine or dress it up in little penis costumes – the thought made Baekhyun laugh, which sent vibrations through Jongin, causing his hips to buck a bit.

Baekhyun braced his hands on Jongin’s hips and decided it was time to make him cum. He swallowed down Jongin with ease, taking care to massage his balls and play with Jongin’s rim. Another quiet moan turned into a much louder groan and Baekhyun’s dick was forgotten.

Feeling himself fall out of Jongin’s mouth, Baekhyun rearranged himself so that he was between Jongin’s legs, eyes locked on amber eyes, and saliva coating his lip. He bobbed his head faster, humming slightly, and using his hand to aid him. Jongin was now making these pathetic little grunts and whimpers. His face was scrunched in pleasure, head lolling against one of the pillows as he tried to say unintelligible words.

Baekhyun continued, going a little faster, sucking a little harder, making his tongue a tiny bit flatter, and in seconds, Jongin was half yelling, hands on the back of Baekhyun’s head, and cumming down his throat. Just the feeling of his climax hitting the back of his throat had Baekhyun leaking so much he almost thought he came as well.

Releasing Jongin with a bit of a slurp, Baekhyun sat back on his heels, and played with himself lazily. The very scene of Jongin sprawled out, skin all golden, and then slightly darker on his groin was just so attractive to him. He didn’t even take long to spurt ropes of cum on Jongin’s balls, dick, and lower stomach and even then, just seeing that made Baekhyun want to climax all over again. How had this night gone from a lame party to him being so spent in the best of ways?

Finally coming back to his senses, Jongin propped himself up on his shoulders and surveyed the damage. He reached down, swiping a small amount of Baekhyun’s seed on his finger and then tasted it, nose wrinkling just a bit.

“What?” Baekhyun asked. He was finally calming down.

Jongin wet his lips, “You must drink a lot of coffee.”

“That I do,” Baekhyun replied. “Should we try to clean this up or?”

Jongin sprang to his knees, “Yes, it’s ice cream time now!”

👼

"Do you ever want to fly?" Baekhyun asked as he scooped the last of his ice cream from the carton.

Jongin sucked on his spoon, brows furrowed in thought. "I guess? I'm more of a water guy though. I love the beach and ocean."

Baekhyun smiled sadly, not sure why he suddenly felt so nostalgic. "Guess we're two sides of the same coin. Me above and you below."

Jongin snorted. "I guess you could say that. But why do you want to fly?"

Baekhyun placed his empty ice cream carton on the floor by his feet. He gave Jongin a sidelong glance. "Freedom?"

Jongin nodded. "I get that."

They fell silent for a moment, lost in their own minds before Jongin perked up. "Let's watch a bad movie and make a drinking game out of it."

It was sudden, but Baekhyun was starting to get used to Jongin's spontaneity. "What do you have in mind?"

Jongin wiggled his brows. "Ever heard of Killer Sofa?"

👼

Something was tickling Baekhyun’s nose. He smacked his face to make it stop, but after a few moments, it was back. Baekhyun reached up, intending to whack whatever was touching his nose, and found his fingers touching feathers. He continued feeling the feathers until he met what felt like flesh and then opened his eyes.

Surely he was dreaming, because there was no way a bird had found its way into his room – let alone one big enough to–

Baekhyun followed the white appendage all the way to the tip and then flicked the feather. It sent a strange feeling to the back of his shoulders, but he paid it no mind. His shoulders had been aching since forever. It's where he held his stress.

It was when Baekhyun tried to sit up that he felt a strange weight at his back. It felt like one of the sheets was clinging to him, but when he reached to remove it, he felt feathers of his own. It took all of two milliseconds for him to inhale and let out the highest pitched scream he could muster.

“What? What’s happening?” Jongin shot up, rubbing his eyes and looking around. “Wow, you’re an angel.”

With shaking hands, Baekhyun felt along his wings. “What the fuck did you do to me?”

“Me? I didn’t do anything!” Jongin said. He scratched his neck and then his eyes grew large. “Baekhyun…”

“Hold on I am having a crisis,” Baekhyun said.

He slowly walked over to his mirror and stared at his reflection. His face looked normal. Maybe his lips were still a little swollen, but other than that? Normal. It was when his eyes left his face that the panic started again. There were two large wings blooming from his back. They were a soft tawny color, almost the same tone as his skin. With a trembling hand, he touched the spot where they erupted from his back and tried to calm himself. This was just a dream. It had to be. All he needed to do was tug and-

Fuck. They were real and that hurt like a bitch. Amidst all of Baekhyun’s freaking out, he noticed Jongin sneak into the bathroom and crane to see his reflection in the mirror. But he didn’t move. He just met the guy and his crisis was a bit more important. He was a fucking chicken for gods’ sake!

“Okay, but what the fuck is on my neck?” Jongin said with a tiny voice.

Baekhyun turned around saw Jongin scratching his neck. There was a strange dry patch where he was picking, and then the grossest thing he’d ever seen happened. A section of dry skin fell off onto the floor. They both stared at it.

“What kind of fucking STD did you give me?”

“Me? I sprouted fucking wings! What did you do to me?”

Jongin swallowed and then started gasping, eyes bugging. “Water, I need water.”

“Um, hold on,” Baekhyun said and spun around. He knocked over the rest of the pillow fort with his wings and tumbled to the ground, twisted up with the blankets.

However, Jongin stumbled and sprinted out of the room, face red, and looking every bit like he was choking. Baekhyun didn’t even have the chance to react before he heard a splash coming from his bathroom. Was he...he couldn’t have.

After untangling himself Baekhyun carefully wobbled into his bathroom and found Jongin with his whole head in the toilet. Baekhyun slapped himself just to check once more that he wasn’t dreaming. What parallel universe did he just wake up in? It was supposed to be a normal day after a hookup! He was supposed to have to deal with the awkward morning conversation and maybe set up another date but instead, this was happening.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m breathing,” came Jongin’s garbled voice from the toilet.

“Wh-what?” Baekhyun stared at him dumbfounded and then jumped. “Wait, that’s nasty, let me do something.”

Carefully – but still knocking over all of his toiletries from the counter, Baekhyun got the bath started. He nudged Jongin with his foot, feeling a strange mixture of confusion and disgust. Jongin was still just as cute as he had been the night before, but he had no intention of kissing him after he’d gotten _that _acquainted with his toilet.

Once Jongin was comfortably in the tub, sunk down to his chest with just his face sticking out of the water and knees bent near the faucet, Baekhyun finally sat down – after carefully tucking his wings behind his back – to digest everything that happened.

“Well, this wasn’t the walk of shame I was expecting,” Jongin said from the tub.

His hair was drenched into clumps on his forehead and his skin still looked just as golden as it did last night. In fact, the only difference now was the strange movement at the back of Jongin’s jaw. It looked almost like...gills?

“So you’re a fish…man...a merman?” Baekhyun said slowly.

Jongin threw his hands in the air. “I guess!” Then he crossed them and pouted a bit.

“And I’m a bird-man?”

“Well I’d say angel, but I don’t think I’m in any place to be flirting right now,” Jongin offered.

“I’m just trying to get this straight. We fucked, and now we’re mythological creatures?” Baekhyun said. As if on cue, his wings twitched, crashing into the shower curtain and knocking the remaining toiletries from the counter. He sighed.

Jongin tossed the shower curtain out the tub and pouted some more. “Apparently!”

Baekhyun wanted to curse at how cute Jongin looked when he was pouting, but Jongin had a point. Now was not the time to be flirting. He shoved his wing back and told it to behave before sighing again.

“What do we do?”

“I dunno, call the Men In Black? Clearly we’re aliens.”

Baekhyun blanched. He hadn’t thought about that. In fact, he hadn’t thought about interacting with normal people at all. All he wanted was for the wings to go away and to be normal again but now all he could think about was experiments and being shipped off to a lab somewhere. Panic set in.

“No! We can’t do that!” Baekhyun blurted. “We have to hide this somehow.”

Jongin blinked slowly at him from the tub. “Well, I can wear a scarf around my neck and just be that guy but you? Those things are massive.”

Baekhyun bit his lip. “Fuck I’m doomed! This was supposed to be my last year and now I have to drop out and-”

Jongin’s lips were on Baekhyun’s and he hated how he melted a bit before pushing Jongin away. “I hate you.”

Jongin dipped himself back under the water and laughed. “I’m sorry. I’ve just always wanted to do that and you were working yourself up.”

“Thanks,” Baekhyun replied begrudgingly. “But that still doesn’t solve my problem. Also how long can you go without water?”

Just then the front door opened and Baekhyun shot to his feet to close the bathroom door.

“Baekhyun?” Chanyeol’s voice was loud as ever as he came up the stairs.

“Bathroom! Busy! Don’t come in!” Baekhyun yelled back.

“Oh, come on, it’s not like I haven’t walked in on you befor-”

“Who’s that?” Jongin asked.

“You have someone in there?” Chanyeol said and banged on the door.

“N-no!” Baekhyun shouted and then glared at Jongin. “Shush! I don’t want to bring attention to this.”

"Yo, what's going on? Are you- you know? In there? With someone?"

Jongin snickered and Baekhyun kicked the door. "No! I'm just..."

"Look, like it's okay if you are, just text me or something so I can go stay at Kyungsoo's or something."

"I'm not fucking someone in the bathroom!" Baekhyun yelled, face burning up.

"Yeah because we did that last night," Jongin added and Baekhyun shot him another glare.

"I thought you were on my side?" He hissed.

Chanyeol knocked on the door again. "Alright, so if you're not you know, doing _that_. Then do you wanna grab lunch?"

On cue, Baekhyun's stomach grumbled loudly. He looked down at it disparagingly. "Even my body is against me."

"You can bring your friend too!"

Jongin shifted in the tub, making water splash everywhere. "We'd love to, Mystery Guy at the Door!"

"Jongin, why are you like this?" Baekhyun whined. His wings twitched and more stuff came crashing down. "Motherfucker."

"You guys sound busy, so I'll text you where I'm at and save a table," Chanyeol responded. "Oh, uh...Jongin? I'm Chanyeol by the way. Nice to meet your voice."

"Nice to meet your voice too! You sound tall," Jongin said.

"I am," Chanyeol replied with a chuckle. "Alright, well don't hurt yourselves and hurry up. I can't promise that I won't order a bunch of food and gorge myself into a coma. It's been one of those days."

His footsteps faded and Baekhyun breathed a sigh of relief before turning on Jongin. He turned on the water and pulled the tab so the shower hit him with an icy downpour.

"Ah! What the fuck?"

"You were supposed to be on my side. We're freaks for Pete's sake! And you are not handling this well!"

"I'm not handling this well? I'm pretty chill over here. Literally," he said with an expectant smile.

Baekhyun facepalmed. If Jongin wasn't so damn cute he might have kicked him. But alas, the golden-skinned god was really fucking cute and he was weak to him. "Sorry about that."

"All is forgiven," Jongin said and stood up.

Water dripped down his body, glistening and making Baekhyun's thirst rise drop by drop. He snapped his gaze back up to Jongin's face and bit his lip. Maybe Chanyeol could predict the future.

👼

They showed up at the breakfast diner a little worse for wear. Jongin had a bloody nose and Baekhyun was feeling extremely sheepish about the whole thing. How was he supposed to know that when he came his wings would shoot out and cause Jongin to go flying face-first into the porcelain throne once more?

When they slid into the booth, Chanyeol raised an eyebrow and let out a low whistle. "Didn't I say don't hurt yourselves?"

Baekhyun's face heated and he sunk as much as he could into the plush seat. His wings were bound tightly against his back with some torn sheets and were beginning to ache already. Luckily it was still cold outside so no one questioned the number of layers he was wearing.

Jongin, however, laughed it off and immediately gulped down the entire glass of water before responding. "What can I say? I give a mean orgasm.” He winked and then grimaced, “Shit that was weird."

"He's weird," Baekhyun said with a small smile.

"Figures," Chanyeol chuckled. "You always did like them weird."

Jongin gave them both a shy grin.

"So how'd you two meet?" Chanyeol asked, leaning on the table and resting his chin over laced fingers.

Jongin perked up. "Oh, I kissed him."

It was Baekhyun's turn to be shy now. He bit his lip and nodded. "Yep, sure did. Stole my breath away and all that jazz."

Chanyeol snickered. "Gross. You guys are like a married couple."

Jongin held up his hand, displaying his ringless fourth finger. “Nope already got divorced. Now we’re trying to make it work for the kids.”

Baekhyun elbowed him in the side. Jongin’s brand of humor wasn’t exactly Chanyeol’s and he didn’t want to make him feel awkward but Chanyeol was snickering, so maybe it wasn’t that bad?

“Which of you carried the baby?”

“Obviously me,” Jongin replied. “My body snapped right back too. You can’t even tell.” He lifted his shirt to expose his perfect body.

Baekhyun slowly lowered his head to the table and banged his forehead a few times. “God, you’re so weird. I hate myself for finding it so cute ugh.”

“I like you,” Chanyeol replied. “You’re gonna be good for him. I literally haven't seen him smile this much in months.”

Baekhyun popped up and studied Chanyeol’s face. He’d never been too keen on anyone that Baekhyun had hooked up with before so this was new. “You’re lying.”

Chanyeol crossed his heart. “No. I like him. Please keep him around.”

In response, Jongin nudged Baekhyun with his nose and gave him his best puppy-dog eyes. “Please keep me around. I promise to be a good boy.”

And if Baekhyun was anywhere else but inside this diner across from Chanyeol, he would’ve kissed Jongin right then and told him not to worry. Because the expression on his face was heart-melting in all the worse ways and even though Baekhyun wanted to be mad at him for inevitably tying their fates together with this whole mythological thing they had going on, Jongin was just so cute, so weird, and so fucking charming that he didn’t stand a chance.

Slowly, he patted Jongin’s head and rolled his eyes. “Only if you’re a _really_ good boy.”

Jongin preened and then slyly slid Baekhyun’s glass of water to his side and downed the entire thing in a single gulp. “I’ll be the best boy.”

“Gross, get a room,” Chanyeol laughed.

The rest of lunch went much of the same way. Baekhyun and Jongin sarcastically flirting in between Chanyeol telling them about his night. Apparently he’d ended up with a girl named Lalisa and they stayed up all night talking about space and how small they were in the grand scheme of things. So now Chanyeol was “in love” with her but he’d made the world’s biggest faux pas and when he was leaving her apartment this morning he had called her ‘Mom’ by accident. Now he wanted to die in a fiery pit and Baekhyun was never gonna let him live it down.

👼

It was nearly midnight when Baekhyun got a call from Jongin.

He was trying to figure out how he was going to shower and wash his wings at the same time when that familiar ringtone distracted him. Without looking at the caller ID he answered it.

“Hey, miss me already?” Baekhyun asked with a small smile dancing on his lips.

After lunch, he and Jongin had split up for their respective homes to try to figure out their new conditions. Granted Baekhyun's required him to avoid Chanyeol and wear his coat inside despite sweating, which had raised a few questions from his roommate.

But Baekhyun was graceful as ever with avoiding the questions. He had claimed he was trying a new workout method where he sweated all day and then worked out at night. And for some reason, Chanyeol believed him.

“Always,” Jongin quipped. “I was just calling to see if you wanted to run away with me and be hippies?”

Baekhyun shook his aching wings, both tips brushing the walls of his room, and sighed. They were hurting even more now that he had unbound them. He briefly wondered how Jongin was holding up with his newfound gills and was about to voice as much when he felt the muscles in his back screaming. He desperately needed to stretch or see a doctor about getting them removed.

“What's the catch?” he sighed again. It turned into a slight groan as he rolled his shoulders and shook out his arms. His wings felt surprisingly light during such a movement. In fact, it dawned on him that they’d hardly added any weight to him at all- just a lot of bulk.

“Ouch,” Jongin replied. “Just come outside, I found the perfect place for us.”

Baekhyun pulled his curtains back, knocking over a few things as he had forgotten to retract his wings, and saw Jongin's car sitting out in the road. He smirked.

“Are you stalking me now?”

There was a rustle on Jongin's end and then a laugh. “I was gonna say something but decided it was too much.”

Baekhyun squinted at him down below and tried to ignore the flutter in his chest. “Now you've gotta tell me. I'm curious.”

“Only if you come hang out. I promise nothing _too_ illegal.”

Baekhyun tried to fight the smile but it was futile. It blossomed across his cheeks accompanied with a hearty serving of heat. Something about Jongin just got to him. “Fine. But you have to come up and bind me again.”

“Just put on a coat and come on. Trust me,” Jongin said. He was vigorously waving his hand through his window.

Baekhyun stared at him and finally tore his gaze from Jongin to eye the coat on his rack and sighed. “Alright, I’m coming.”

What Jongin had in store, Baekhyun wasn’t sure, but the moment he saw that golden-skinned boy smiling up at him like he was the all stars in the sky, Baekhyun knew he would do anything for him. Anything at all.

Which, incidentally, was how the two of them ended up at an abandoned warehouse just a few minutes shy of midnight.

The abandoned warehouse loomed in front of them. Its crumbling maw of a door looking more like a portal of death than an entrance.

"Um, Jongin?"

The golden boy ignored him, pressing on while humming quietly to himself. What the fuck was he thinking?

Baekhyun sighed as he continued to look around. The ground was littered with empty bottles, empty food wrappers, and the occasional used condom turned yellow-brown by the sun. It was a glorified dump.

"Dude, where the fuck are we?"

"Just...trust me," Jongin said as he grabbed Baekhyun's arm.

Normally, Baekhyun would walk a little faster past a place like this, but not tonight. Tonight he was following a man he hardly knew and yet knew all too much about all because of trust. Or well, maybe because he really had a thing for him and was prone to making extremely stupid decisions when it came to cute boys.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you took me out here to murder me,” Baekhyun joked.

Jongin grinned over his shoulder. “Oh darn, you’ve got me all figured out.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? I would’ve worn my dying clothes,” Baekhyun said.

Jongin flashed a grin at him. “I’m gonna need an explanation on that.”

Baekhyun snorted. “You don’t have dying clothes? You know the clothes you want to die in? So that when people see you they’re like – man it sure is a shame, but he’s stylish.”

“What?” Jongin guffawed. “I think you out-weirded me there.”

Baekhyun winked in response. "Just think about it. Do you want to die in your pajamas?"

"I sleep nude, so I'm okay with that."

Baekhyun's mind came to a halt as the blood rushed from his brain to his second head. "I hate you."

Jongin smirked. "Uh-huh."

Ah, it was nice hanging out with Jongin, Baekhyun thought as he rolled his eyes. He hadn't clicked this well with someone in a long time.

Besides, Baekhyun was - dare he say - happy? Despite all the craziness of this morning - which was feeling like it'd been a million years ago - he was enjoying Jongin's company. He just kind of made things make sense.

They came to a stop at one of those inflatable above ground pools filled with water. Without even waiting Jongin began peeling off his clothes, layer by layer, leaving Baekhyun completely speechless for the moment.

“W-what are you doing?!”

Jongin glanced over his shoulder and grinned. “I have something to show you.”

“But I’ve already seen you naked,” Baekhyun replied.

Jongin paid him no mind and continued stripping. "Technicalities. Plus you've never seen me naked _outside_."

Baekhyun's mouth flopped open like a fish out of water. He did have a point. Maybe he just needed to accept the fact that Jongin brought chaos into his life. He watched in silence as Jongin approached the kiddie pool now fully stark naked. The way he clenched his buttcheeks was cute though. They looked so soft and hard and the dimples at the side had Baekhyun's blood rushing south all over again.

Jongin threw his leg over the edge. Okay, so kiddie pool was an exaggeration. It did come up to his waist. Which led to the thought, how the hell did Jognin get this here?

“Jongin I have-”

The second Jongin was fully submerged into the water, a beautiful iridescent yellow fin popped up. Baekhyun stepped closer, not quite believing his eyes. What in the actual fuck? Jongin put fish in the pool? What kind of psycho does that?

But it wasn’t fish. Not exactly. When Jongin’s head crested the water, he let out a loud laugh. “I’m a fucking mermaid!”

Okay, Baekhyun was losing it. He had to still be at the party and someone slipped something in his drink. He would wake up any moment now-

“Isn’t this cool?” Jongin asked, wonder filling his expression. Fuck he’s cute. But this was so weird and well Jongin was the embodiment of weird but this had to be a dream.

Baekhyun pinched himself. Nope, he was awake. There was no mistaking that. "Jongin I-"

He stopped, pinching the bridge of his nose. He was crazy! He had to be! But then he felt his wings twitch and for a second the world tilted. This was real. All of this was real.

Closing the distance, Baekhyun leaned over the edge of the pool, eyes trailing down Jongin’s nicely muscled chest into the water where golden skin gave way to sparkling golden scales just at his hips. The scales glistened iridescently, a few stray ones speckling Jongin's sides all the way up to his neck.

He was beautiful. Impossibly so. Like, he was already sculpted by the gods but now he had this delicate but also strong-looking tail that lazily crested the water and-

Where did his dick go?

“Uh, I need a second. I have so many questions,” Baekhyun explained as he stepped back. This was a lot to process.

Jongin shrugged, “Take as long as you need. The water is keeping me nice and warm.”

An hour later – yes an actual hour – Baekhyun sighed. “So how do we handle this?”

Jongin shrugged, the water pooling around his clavicles spilling down his shoulders and chest. “Not sure really. I figure I can just chug water all the time in class. My tail goes away when I will it, and I think I have a good grasp on my affliction already. But you have a bigger problem and I don’t just mean your dick.”

_His dick! The tail started just where his hips did!_

“I’m sorry, but where is yours?” Baekhyun blurted out. Now that he said it out loud he needed to know right the fuck now.

Jongin mockingly clutched fake pearls. “You can’t just ask a merman where his dickus is! That’s speciesist!”

 _Dickus?_ “I’m-” Baekhyun stopped, his brain completely grinding to a halt. “I think you’re my soulmate?” He said half-jokingly.

“I knew you’d come around,” Jongin laughed and then added with a serious expression. “Record time on Stockholm syndrome, though. I’ll have to note that for the future.”

A moment passed in silence. Then, Jongin added, “I’m joking. I mean, like I think you’re really cool and we both have this STD-”

“Hell of an STD.”

“And I’m obviously taking this way better than you, but perhaps that has to do with the fact that I was pretty good at taking your-”

“Yeah, why are you handling this so well?” Baekhyun interrupted, knowing full well where Jongin was going.

Jongin shrugged. “It is what it is.”

Baekhyun stared at him. “That’s it?”

Jongin nodded. “Everything happens for a reason.”

“Okay, now you’re being obtuse.”

“God works in mysterious ways…”

“Shut up.”

“Karma can be a real bitch.”

Baekhyun deadpanned at Jongin.

“...maybe try online classes?” Jongin said after a while, bringing the conversation back on topic.

Baekhyun half-smiled. “It’s a good idea. But then I’d be holed up in my apartment all the time and I wouldn’t like that.”

More silence followed until Jongin broke it. “My parents have a cabin up north. It’s kind of secluded and you could easily stretch your wings there?”

Baekhyun shook his head. “That sounds nice but it’s also asking for some rando to see me and then the next thing I know I’m being locked up in some surgery room where scientists are poking and prodding me.”

“We’re kinda fucked huh?”

“Just a tad,” Baekhyun sighed.

He found his gaze moving from the starry night sky to Jongin’s jawline. He followed it down his neck, where the little slits of his gills fanned with every breath. It was so alien but also beautiful in a way. Much like how Jongin was in general. So perfect he had to be an alien.

“Hey,” Jongin started, that boyish grin on his face again. “We’ll figure something out.”

Baekhyun snorted again. “Why do you care so much about me? You hardly know me.”

“Well…” Jongin trailed. “I don’t know. But you’re kinda the only person who would understand what I’m going through with the gills and…”

Baekhyun waved his hand. “I know _that_...It’s just...why _me_ of all people?”

“Why not?”

And the way he said those words made Baekhyun’s heart flutter. It was so simple and yet it meant everything.

👼

The following two months went without too much of a hitch. Once Baekhyun figured out how to hide his wings, not just during class but from Chanyeol too – which proved to be quite the feat – he was able to go about his daily life quite easily.

In the mornings he’d wake up and take a quick ten minutes in the sky – oh yeah, after that night with Jongin in the warehouse, he’d taken to stretching his wings before coming back and showering.

Jongin had suggested it after he'd taken to one of the nearby lakes and swam for hours. Something about stretching his muscles and exploring his limits. Baekhyun was a bit more cautious, but once he started, he was well...addicted.

Flying was everything. It was like taking that first breath after thinking you’re gonna die from drowning. It was like sinking yourself into a nice hot bath in negative degree weather. It was like peeing after a really long car ride, the kind that sent shivers up your spine.

It was all those things, but there was one thing it wasn’t. It wasn’t Jongin.

So yeah, he’d become a bit attached to Jongin. They saw each other every day. After Baekhyun’s morning flights he’d return to his room, pull his wings to his back as tightly as he could until they were more or less melded against his back – outline only visible if you knew where to look. Then he’d put on enough layers to hide that fact. Then he’d meet Jongin at the end of the stairs and walk to class with him.

Jongin would check his back to make sure everything was hunky-dory and they’d set off, next to each other before gradually, their hands would brush and slowly their fingers would twine. Baekhyun never said anything about this when it happened and neither did Jongin.

Being with him was like burying your face into the fur of a fluffy cat. Like digging your feet into the warm sand at the beach. He was like that first ray of sun after months of darkness. Chasing away all the shadows and demons. And maybe that wasn’t fair to much so much pressure on Jongin, but he never complained.

They made quite the team, the two of them. Baekhyun bringing extra water bottles in his backpack for Jongin and Jongin carried both their backpacks to spare Baekhyun’s wings from being crushed. They split at their respective buildings, sat through their lectures, and then met again to grab lunch with Chanyeol and Lalisa (who were totally adorable together).

It was weird how things were working out in Baekhyun’s favor.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! If you got this far, please let me know what you liked? Or even what you think will happen next! Thank you all for reading ^^


End file.
